Panelized manufactured stone wall covering with in mold formed alignment mechanism

ABSTRACT

A manufactured stone panel formed of a cementitious manufactured stone panel having a rear, mounting face, a front, decorative face, an upper surface having a raised section and a recess, and a lower surface a raised section and a recess, such that the upper surface and lower surface of adjacent stone panels overlap to form a joint therebetween, at least one bracket extending from the cementitious stone body; a leftward extension on the stone body; and a rightward extension on the stone body, such that the leftward extension and rightward extension of adjacent stone panels form a joint therebetween.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/973,495, filed May 7, 2018, entitled “PANELIZED MANUFACTURED STONEWALL COVERING WITH IN MOLD FORMED ALIGNMENT MECHANISM,” which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/714,544, filed Sep.25, 2017, entitled “PANELIZED MANUFACTURED STONE WALL COVERING WITH INMOLD FORMED ALIGNMENT MECHANISM,” which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/434,345, filed Feb. 16, 2017, entitled“PANELIZED MANUFACTURED STONE WALL COVERING WITH IN MOLD FORMEDALIGNMENT MECHANISM,” which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 62/296,589, filed Feb. 17, 2016, entitled“PANELIZED MANUFACTURED STONE WALL COVERING WITH IN MOLD FORMEDALIGNMENT MECHANISM,” which are hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entirety—including all references and appendices cited therein.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A variety of manufactured stone has come onto the market. Generally, themanufactured stone is mounted to a prepared surface with mortar, screwsor a polymer adhesive. Substantial preparation of the wall is requiredbecause the manufactured stone. Generally, the stones are preformedindividual stones that are adhered to the wall. Recently, panelizedproducts that appear to have a number of individual stones have becomepopular due to the speed and ease of installation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to, in one embodiment, panelizedmanufactured stone for use on the exterior of a building and/orstructure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by theaccompanying figures. It will be understood that the figures are notnecessarily to scale and that details not necessary for an understandingof the invention or that render other details difficult to perceive maybe omitted. It will be further understood that the invention is notnecessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective view of a manufactured stonepanel in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a front plan view of a manufactured stone panel inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a top plan view of a manufactured stone panel inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4A illustrates a plan assembly view of the side of a manufacturedstone panel installed on a wall in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 4B illustrates a plan assembly view in detail of an alternateembodiment of a manufactured stone panel installed on a wall inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a front view of a manufactured stone panel inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of a corner piece of amanufactured stone panel of the present invention in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 7A illustrates a front perspective view of an alternate embodimentof a manufactured stone panel in accordance with the present invention;and

FIG. 7B illustrates a rear plan view, in detail, of an alternateembodiment of a manufactured stone panel in accordance with the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described with occasional reference tothe specific embodiments of the invention. This invention may, however,be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited tothe embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are providedso that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in thedescription of the invention herein is for describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused in the description of the invention and the appended claims, thesingular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities ofingredients, properties such as molecular weight, reaction conditions,and so forth as used in the specification and claims are to beunderstood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.”Accordingly, unless otherwise indicated, the numerical properties setforth in the specification and claims are approximations that may varydepending on the desired properties sought to be obtained in embodimentsof the present invention. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges andparameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention areapproximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examplesare reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical values, however,inherently contain certain errors necessarily resulting from error foundin their respective measurements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective view of a manufactured stonepanel in accordance with the present invention. The manufactured stonepanel 10 includes a formed concrete body 12 that is mounted to the wallof a structure by brackets 48. The manufactured stone panels form adecorative counter flashing to the exterior of a structure. The panelsmay be installed as a wainscot or may be installed on the entire surfaceof the structure. In order to break up the vertical lines of theinstalled panels, the manufactured stone panel includes right and leftextensions. When installed, the panels join together such that the rightand left extensions of adjacent panels coordinate and the vertical seamson the wall are difficult to perceive. The upper surface of themanufactured stone panel includes a raised section and a recess. Thelower surface of the manufactured stone panel includes a raised sectionand a recess. When installed the recess of the upper section receives ofone manufactured stone panel mates with the raised section in anadjacent manufactured stone panel. The overlap inhibits the flow ofwater from the front surface of the manufactured stone panel to the rearface where it must drain or evaporate.

Manufactured stone panels in accordance with the present invention aretypically cast from concrete. The concrete is placed in an elastomericmold and placed on a vibrating table to improve the surface propertiesof the panel. Brackets are added and the mold is stored for a period toallow the concrete to set. The mold is generally formed by spraying anelastomeric material over a set of natural stones have the desiredappearance. Preferably, the stones are arranged within a frame thatholds the stones in place during the mold forming process and provides ahigh quality and repeatable side surface detail, so that themanufactured stone panel align well when mounted on a wall.

FIG. 2 illustrates a front plan view of a manufactured stone panel inaccordance with the present invention. The front surface may be of anycharacter, while natural stone is generally desired in the market othersurface features may be molded. The sidewalls 13, 13′ may beperpendicular to the front face. However, angling the sidewalls at anangle of up to about 45 degrees improves the appearance of themanufactured stone panels when mounted and improves the resistance towindblown water. The sidewalls my also include a stepped edge, similarto the upper and lower surface of the panel, so that the sidewalls ofadjacent panels mate.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top plan view of a manufactured stone panel inaccordance with the present invention. The front surface includes adecorative face while the rear surface is generally as poured or may beroughly troweled. The sidewalls 13, 13′ shown are at an angle of 10-30degrees to improve the appearance and weather resistance.

FIG. 4A illustrates a plan assembly view of the side of a manufacturedstone panel installed on a wall in accordance with the presentinvention. Manufactured stone panels are mounted on an exterior wall ofa structure.

The wall may be any construction. Generally, a plywood or OSB panel iscovered with a one or more barrier layers such as tarpaper. An exteriordrainage plane layer is typically used to allow water to flow down theface of the wall. The manufactured stone panels are preferably nailed tothe wall panel. The lower tier of manufactured stone panels is mountedand a second tier is placed on top such that the recess in the lowerpanel receives the raised section of the upper panel. The upper panel isthen tiled up and fixed to the wall. A third tier of manufactured stonepanels is then installed in the same manner. As can be seen the lowersurface includes an optional descending section.

FIG. 4B illustrates a plan assembly view in detail of an alternateembodiment of a manufactured stone panel installed on a wall inaccordance with the present invention. The first tier of manufacturedstone panels is shown. A starter strip/drip ledge is installed along thebase of the wall. The lower edge of the manufactured stone panel isplaced on the strip so that the raised portion of the lower surface fitsonto a channel on the strip. The panel is then tilted up and fixed tothe wall.

FIG. 5 illustrates a front view of a manufactured stone panel inaccordance with the present invention. As can be seen in FIG. 5, thebrackets extend into the concrete of the panel. While an upper and lowerbracket may be used, this is generally not necessary.

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of a corner piece of amanufactured stone panel of the present invention in accordance with thepresent invention. The corner piece is structurally similar to thestandard manufactured stone panel. Brackets extend from the rear of eachside of the corner piece. The upper and lower surfaces include raisedsections and recesses and the end sections may be perpendicular orangled from surface or may include a step feature. The corner piece isinstalled in a manner similar to the planar manufactured stone panel.

FIG. 7A illustrates a front perspective view of an alternate embodimentof a manufactured stone panel in accordance with the present invention.An accessory manufactured stone panel may be included with the standardmanufactured stone panel. A number of brackets are included so that theaccessory piece may be cut to any length and have at least one mountingbracket. The accessory piece may also be installed on the wall to breakup the horizontal lines on the standard panel. Generally 5% -10%accessory pieces mixed in with the standard panels on the wall willprovide an improve appearance by breaking up the horizontal runs of theinstalled panels.

FIG. 7B illustrates a rear plan view, in detail, of an alternateembodiment of a manufactured stone panel in accordance with the presentinvention.

The present invention should not be considered limited to the specificexamples described herein, but rather should be understood to cover allaspects of the invention. Various modifications, equivalent processes,as well as numerous structures and devices to which the presentinvention may be applicable will be readily apparent to those of skillin the art. Those skilled in the art will understand that variouschanges may be made without departing from the scope of the invention,which is not to be considered limited to what is described in thespecification.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:
 1. A manufactured stone panel, comprising: acementitious manufactured stone panel having: a rear, mounting face, afront, decorative face, an upper surface having a raised section and arecess, and a lower surface a raised section and a recess, such that theupper surface and lower surface of adjacent stone panels overlap to forma joint therebetween; at least one bracket extending from thecementitious stone body; a leftward extension on the stone body; and arightward extension on the stone body, such that the leftward extensionand rightward extension of adjacent stone panels form a jointtherebetween.
 2. A manufactured stone accessory panel, comprising: acementitious manufactured stone panel having: a rear, mounting face, afront, decorative face, an upper surface having a raised section and arecess, and a lower surface a raised section and a recess, such that theupper surface and lower surface of adjacent stone panels overlap to forma joint therebetween.
 3. A manufactured stone corner panel, comprising:a cementitious manufactured stone panel having: two rear, mountingfaces, two front, decorative faces, the front faces forming asubstantially right angle; an upper surface having a raised section anda recess, and a lower surface a raised section and a recess, such thatthe upper surface and lower surface of adjacent stone panels overlap toform a joint therebetween; a leftward extension on the stone body; and arightward extension on the stone body, such that the leftward extensionand rightward extension of adjacent stone panels form a jointtherebetween.